Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Thunderstorms ..........

We've been busy with various chores this week. We had a bad thunderstorm Sunday night with lots of lightning. I was standing just outside the back door calling Maggie May, who had retreated under the deck to get away from the rain, when lightning struck really close by. It blew the phone box, which was about six feet from me, off the back of the house and into the yard. I think I actually felt heat from the strike. It burned up our microwave, tripped several breakers, and burned up a night light in my bathroom. Poor Maggie May didn't come out from under the deck until a couple of hours later. My Dad had damage at his house also. His phone still hasn't been fixed. It broke his washer and damaged the lights in his bathroom. I'm still trying to get everything repaired. At least Hubby was at home. Before he retired he would always be gone during storms and I would have to handle things on my own.

The good thing about our thunderstorms is that they have put much needed water into my pool. We took the cover off Sunday in anticipation of the rain. We still need about 3 inches of water, which we will probably have to get from the well. It just takes awhile to run that much water into the pool, since I don't like to run water from the well for too long at a time. I'll turn the hose on for 30 minutes, then off for an hour and back on for 30 minutes. Can't wait for it to get hot so I can spend the afternoons in the pool.

The garden is still growing fast. We've been eating radishes and lettuce. I have lots of blooms on the squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I hope we will have squash by the first of the week. We just need a few sunny days.

Hubby has been retired for twelve days. He is thoroughly enjoying retirement. However, I have found it very difficult to find the time to do things that I need to do. We are either going somewhere or he is getting me to help him with his projects. I get so much more done when I have routines to follow and we haven't had any routines lately. I guess it will work out with time.

9 comments:

Gosh, that was some thunderstorm! Haven't ever experienced any like that! One of the dogs we had hated thunder and would lie shaking in aa corner somewhere. Later he went very deaf and never turned a hair!!

Retirement - ah! you need to carve a space for you as soon as possible or you find that what you are doing now becomes the norm, and changing is very difficult and sometimes hurtful!

That sounds like a bad storm! But the good side is the rain. We are starting to need some here, but we aren't getting much. Still, the garden is looking good. I just need to water it myself now, which I wanted to avoid.

For your kitties, we just discovered something called Aconite. It's recommended by a popular local vet here in Pittsburgh that has his own show on the radio. He says he tells his patient's Moms and Dads to use it to help calm their fears in storms or in the car or any time they get upset. It's a natural herb. Maybe you could use it for your cats. I think Amazon has it.

That is way too scary about the lightning that close to you!!! My Grandma in Amelia had a phone blow up in her face when lightning hit the house. The phone line hadn't been grounded properly. She had phone shards all over her face. Argh. I'm glad you're okay. jan

Lightning has been heavy here at our place too and the strikes are right on top of us. Quite frightening. Handsome handles it okay, but Missy sits next to me a actually shakes. Sorry about your phone box. Yikes.